Here's a good example. Indianapolis to Omaha. Looked at a flight for 2/21 arbitrarily. $350 and it will take you about 4 hours to get there by plane. The rail can probably get you there in about 3 hours for a hell of a lot less money, and you save about 30-45 minutes of hassle and frustration from the airport (I'm not talking about hassle, by the way, as just being annoying. I'm talking about hassle as in, from a business standpoint, 30-45 minutes is really valuable time an employee can spend comfortable using a computer with wifi).

For short train rides, I see lots of people using it for day trips (e.g. going to a stadium). I also see a LOT of businesspeople using it, as it is cheaper and allows one to be more productive than driving.

#1 You're dreamin if you think any rail could get you from Indianapolis to Omaha in under 3 hours (unless you think that will be a nonstop direct route) You'd likely change trains in Chicago and have AT LEAST a 30 minute stopover time.

#2 Oh great. I am going to invest eleventy bazillion dollars so that the 8 people who travel that route can take a train.

Don't get me wrong I love me some trains... but I have lived in Europe and seen how difficult it is to make cost effective high speed rail work. They are subsidized out the arse and it is still more expensive (and takes longer) than flying for all but a few routes. And those routes are between MAJOR transport hubs like Barcelona and Madrid.